


What a Small World we Live in

by Randal



Category: Castle (TV) RPF, Chuck (TV), Merlin (TV), Sherlock (TV), Teen Wolf (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-02 15:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 13,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2816876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randal/pseuds/Randal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a young girls world is torn apart she will do anything to protect the ones she loves</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The first few chapter will be Avengers centric but hang in there other fandoms will have their moment.

The Battle of New York had destroyed the Avengers. The people that they were before the initiative were gone. Nightmares and sleeplessness plagued the inhabitants of the newly built tower. 

Tony had taken to working in his workshop until he collapsed from exhaustion, Bruce right beside him in the lab Tony had built next door. Natasha, Steve and Clint thrust themselves into mission after mission after mission. Thor returned to Asgard.

Pepper was the one who made sure they fed themselves, dragging Bruce away from the projects that he and Tony were working on to make him cook or ordering in take out on the days that the tower was so dark that no one could bring themselves to care. The whole group had a fragile and strange system but it worked for them.

She and Tony had broken up shortly after the battle. It was an attempt by Tony to protect her, so she was no longer affiliated with Avengers, he even tried to fire her as his CEO. The whole ordeal had led to a shouting match that has caused the entire tower to be cleared for three full days.

Secretly, Pepper begged for a change of pace, a change of scenery, anything to help the mishmash family. 

And so it came....

The fall of SHIELD forced the Avengers to flee, to evade the many heads of Hydra and the scrutinising eye of the public. 

Barton's farm was hidden and primitive, lacking electricity. It was a definite change, with no labs or missions to act as distractions. Thor returned upon hearing the news and the team worked through their trauma. Mostly. 

They were bent out of shape, as Pepper liked to say, they just needed to work together to remould themselves. It was an uncomfortable experience, what with each of the team feeling so secluded and alone for much of their lives, it was difficult to open up. 

They worked at it, together, and slowly the atmosphere became less dark around them and smiles adorned many of their faces.

Over several months they had solidified their bond as the Avengers. People were sleeping in beds now (not in labs) and Tony had been able to bring the old farmhouse into the 21st century using electricity. 

It was by no means perfect but it was homely and the best setting to allow them to feel human again.

It was three months later, after the Avenger had settled into a routine of farming and training, when the news showed New York, under siege.


	2. Tony's fight

'Wait so tell me why you own this farmhouse that is literally in the middle of nowhere.' Pepper was yet to hear the story about Clint's ownership of the land.

'My dad owned it, passed it down to me. I kept it because I thought it would be a good safe house. Turns out I was right.' He was petting Romanoff's curly red hair as she laid with her head on his thigh. She was half asleep and it was disturbingly domestic for those who knew the spy. Bruce was snoring softly on the corner of the sofa, it was adorable and Pepper had made sure to take photos for Tony once he'd finished tinkering with the suit he'd brought. 

On the other sofa Thor and Steve sat flicking through the channels on the small TV set opposite them. It was all very boring without Jarvis to play films. Thor decided to leave it on the news in the end, tiring of going through the same few channels repeatedly. 

It mumbled in the background about the small happenings around the country as Pepper and Clint continued talking. That was until Steve shouted towards the screen. Everyone looked round to see an airship hovering over downtown New York. Steve turned the volume up to hear the report.

'... We're just getting reports of Hydra agents descending from the carrier! We advice everyone to remain indoors! The police.... Wait, is that? Yes, that is Tony Stark's Iron Man. He's destroyed the descending platforms.....' Bruce had woken with the sudden increase in noise and smashed the TV screen. 

'What the fuck is Tony doing?!' Bruce's eyes were an emerald green as he stared at the others.

Everyone sat in shock for a moment before standing. 

'Suit up! In the jet in one minute!' Steve had already pulled his shield onto his back as Barton grabbed his bow and quiver. 

Within a minute everyone was crowded into the jet, Natasha at the controls.

\--

Tony was slowly connecting his suit to Jarvis back home in an attempt to calm his nerves- he needed his technology to keep everyone safe, Jarvis would have to do for now but he hoped that in the next month he could start gathering more supplies to create a defensive barrier around the farm. He needed his English butler to help him. 

With one last tweak on the signal Jarvis' voice came blasting through the helmet speakers.

'Sir, there's a giant Hydra ship over New York.'

'Alright, we're leaving.'

'Sir, shouldn't we wait for the other Avengers.' Tony ignored the voice and climbed into the suit. The familiar feeling of metal surrounding him was strangely soothing and as he took off into the sky he final felt free of everything. 

The novelty of flying, as Tony had come to learn, never wore off. Every time was exhilarating, no matter the reason for him flying (well maybe not the wormhole but that would be the only exception he could find). He was alone in the sky and although people could experience soaring through the sky by plane, this was all his own. Rhodey had never quite grasped the concept whenever he tried to explain it, that feeling of complete freedom when you're dancing above the clouds.

He embraced the feeling on the relatively short flight to New York. The streets were empty of people, apparently they were still weary of numerous attacks that had threatened Manhattan since the start of the previous year.

'What's the situation?' Circle highlighted the enemies.

'There are no Hydra agents on the streets yet but they are descending. Weak points are shown.' Three dots showed up.

The first plan of action was to get rid of the agents then the ship. He was quick as efficient, with one blast sending the agents falling to their doom. As the life signs disappeared one by one from his screen he turned to the carrier.

It was immense, made from reinforced steel and it's hull seemingly impenetrable except for the vents that Jarvis had highlighted. Tony flew round, straight past the old SHIELD eagle and into the vent at the front of the airship. He tore a hole through the metal and crawled into the engine. He was surrounded by Stark tech, it was easy to find the weakest point (after all he built it). Then he spotted it, the pipeline to the main deck. He wedged a tiny bomb next to it, between the wall and the pipe, which would force the explosion inwards, taking out the rest of the engine. But before he could arm it his AI interrupted him.

'Sir, I'm reading the life signs of a child, on the lower deck.'

'Thats the prison corridor.' He flew further into the engine until he reach the maintenance entrance. 

'Jarvis switch to infrared.' His view turned purple and red- there were three figures in the corridor immediately outside and five on the deck below. He blew through the platform below him and flew down to the maintenance door for the lowest level. 

Just outside the door two people were walking around, another two standing guard over the final, much smaller figure, who sat in the corner. 

'Three, two, one...' Tony, always being one for theatrics waited until the patrolmen were in front of the door before he burst through them, sending the door straight off its hinges and onto the two men. He stomped over it and rounded the corner, blasting the two guards back. His headset returned to normal vision as he looked into the cell. 

There in the corner, sat cross-legged and staring at him with quizzical eyes through black glasses frames was a small teenaged girl with long, wild hair and pasty white skin. Freckles were splattered across cheekbones and her feet bare. She stood as he approached and open the door. The squinted her eyes at him, sizing him up before moving past him and down the corridor. 

'Sir there are twelve guards currently moving down towards this floor.'

'HEY, LITTLE GIRL! WE NEED TO GET MOVING!' He'd lost sight of her but he could hear loud bangs and grunts coming from further round the corner. He followed them, expecting a hoard of agents waiting but found the teenager stood in the middle of a pile of bodies.

'You said we need to get moving, what are you waiting for?' She sounded so innocent, tilting her head to the side.

'Yeah, this way out.' He grabbed her arm and took off toward the vent. Before he could reach it an alarm started blaring throughout the craft. 

'They're all converging on this point.' The girl murmured. She was draped across his arms and clutching to his neck. Then it came to him. 

'Keep holding to my neck. I'll keep you safe.' He looked towards the bomb to his left.

'What does it do?'

'It will incinerate the ship before any debris can hit the ground.'

'The blast radius?' 

'The size of the ship.'

'So we'd better get moving!' She hopped out of his arms and ran to the vent at the and of the walkway. With a small wave to him she fell backwards out of the ship. He sprinted after her, activating the thirty second countdown as he emerged from the ship. Below him the girl was falling, parallel to the ground, facing him. He sped towards her, not even faltering as he heard the tremendous explosion from above him. He scooped her up and moved toward the Avengers tower. He couldn't take her to the farm, it was supposed to be a secret, besides the rest of the team were undoubtedly making their way toward New York, there was no need to make them turn back. 

He landed on the airfield, just as the jet hovered overhead, relinquishing his grasp on the teenager so she could stand. 

'I can't let you in, I need the go ahead from the rest of his team.' The girl looked at him with an unreadable expression, which he took as understanding. And so it was time to face the team. The ramp descended from the jet to reveal a pissed looking Cap and a calm Bruce, boy was he screwed.

'I can explain...'


	3. Little Miss SHIELD

'What the hell were you thinking?! You could've died. And who the hell is that?' Steve pointed at the girl.

'I don't know. I...'

'My name is Mily.' Everyone stared at her, the English accent throwing them. 'May we go inside? I'm quite cold.' She stood in denim shorts and a thin top, shivering in the strong wind.

'Not until you tell us who you are and why you were on that ship?' 

'As I said, my name is Mily. I'm presuming they captured me because me and my team were following their plans back in London.'

'Your team?'

'SHIELD. Or whatever people are calling it now. We're the last remaining operatives in Britain.' That raised warning flags with Natasha who glared at the equally small girl in the middle of the circle. Clint gripped hers and Mily's arm and dragged her inside leaving the rest of the avengers to process that. 

Inside he dropped the girl onto the sofa and stood in front it.

'Jarvis run her code- I want to know when she was recruited and by who. Your code?'

'09847361'

'Recruited from London at the age of 14 by Fury.' 

'What else is in her file?' Natasha was stood next to Clint not having taken her eyes off of Mily.

'Sir that is all that is in her file.' Clint's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'What? That's not possible.' He crouched down so that he was at face level with Mily. 'How is that possible?'

'We were designed to be undercover, can't risk people infiltrating SHIELD and finding us. I'm presuming that's the only reason we weren't taken out during the takedown.' Natasha and Clint looked at each other confused before they called the rest of the team in.

'She's SHIELD, no doubt about it.'

'Can I call my team?' Every eye in the room was on her as the small girl rose from the sofa. 'They need to know I'm alive and safe. Please.' Somehow she seemed smaller in that moment. Tony nodded once.  
'Jarvis, do as she asks.'

There was a moment of silence before the room was filled with the sound of a phone ringing.

'Detective Chandler.'

'Joe, it's Mily.'

'Thank god! Kent Mansall, get in here!' There was shuffling on the other end of the line as the group of superheroes watched the girl now stood in the middle of the room.

'Mil? Is that you?'

'Yeah it's me Kent!' She smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. 'I'll give you the full story when I see you.' She looked at Stark. 'They can come here right?' He nodded.

'We're on our way.' With that silence rang through the room.

'So we'll be hosting three-'

'Seven.'

'Seven spies.' The Captain dead panned. 'And how do we know you're to be trusted?' 

'Contact the brother of one of my team. Mycroft Holmes of the British Government.'


	4. The phone call

Steve Rogers walked out onto the balcony as the phone connected.

'Mr Holmes..'

'Sherlock will be releasing his official apology tomorrow.'

'Sir, I'm afraid you've mistaken me for another. I'm calling in regards to a SHIELD team under you protection.'

'That team has been disbanded.'

'What about a girl...'

'Mily!?' He composed himself.  
'She has been missing in action for the past three months.'

Steve turned to Mily as she stared intently towards him through the glass.

'I have a girl here who claims to be her and that her team are flying out to meet her.'

'Put this girl on.'

'No you will be talking to me. Your 'team' seemed convinced, now confirm for me their status again.' 

'One moment...' There was rustling on the other end of the line and some muffled talking.

'Confirmed.'


	5. Something's off

The Avengers were gathered in the kitchen as Mily sat alone on the sofa.

'This Mycroft guy confirmed her story.'

'But who is he?'

'He didn't say exactly, other than he holds a position within the British government.'

'And that's not suspicious to you?'

'Yes I am but if anything arises whilst they're here we can handle it.' 

'I still don't like it.' Natasha leaned back against the work surface. 'She could be Hydra, we know that they recruit from a young age.'

'But something is telling me she isn't. There's something off about her but it isn't about being a Hydra agent.' The Cap looked thrown by the girl.

'That's because there is.' Everyone looked round to Tony. 'I had Jarvis run a full body scan and there are some... Anomalies.' He threw the scan into a hologram on the table. 'Bruce come look at this... See this region of her brain.'

'Yeah, there's way more activity than is normal. And look, that electrical signature is everywhere. I need to run more tests to find out what the cause is.' Bruce was staring intently at the scan. 

'Care to translate.'

'Basically, there is something off with Mily biologically and Brucie wants to find out what.' 

'And how exactly do you think we're going to get the stuff to carry out these tests? We can't exactly just ask and Nat doesn't want her team to hang around longer than is necessary.' Clint was perched on the side behind Natasha, one hand on her shoulder, keeping her grounded and in place.

'Why not?' And with that Tony strolled into the living room and came to a stop in front in Mily.

'We need a sample of you blood.'

'Why?'

'Standard procedure when anyone new enters this tower.'

'Ok.' She followed Stark and Banner to a small lab where they withdrew a small sample of blood.

'So... I realise I never thanked you for saving me, and for allowing my team to come here.'

'That was against my better judgement- allowing your friends here not saving you. My team aren't quite so happy with it.'

'Sorry.' She just simply stated at the ground, wide eyed and vulnerable. 'But why do you actually want to run this test? Don't think I'm stupid enough to miss a full body scan in progress.'

'You have weird electrical signals, we want to find out why.'

'Well I mean you could've simply asked. I'll show you when my friends are here.'


	6. Meet the team

The group were all sat in the living room, having started the tests in Mily's blood. 

'Sir, a helicopter has landed on the roof.' Jarvis announced into the silent room. Tony stood and pulled the door open allowing the seven men to walk into the room. Mily remained rooted to the spot while the others rose from their seats to watch the newcomers. 

A tall blond man stepped forward, extending his right hand towards Steve.

'DI Joseph Chandler. This is DC Emerson Kent and DC Findlay Mansell.' The two DCs stepped forward as their name was announced. 'Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson and Merlin and Arthur Pendragon. No need to introduce yourselves, we know of the Avengers.' The Avengers nodded as the introductions finished, moving to sit back down. As the shuffling stopped Mily raced towards her team. Kent caught her, burying his face in her hair while she clung to his suit. 

He released her as the others moved in, each confirming that this dark haired girl was in fact theirs. 

'I hate to break up the reunion' Tony piped up from next to Bruce on the sofa. 'But we're going to need an explanation for this.' He spun the screen in his hand around to present full body scans showing the same anomalies in Kent, Sherlock and Merlin as in Mily.

It was difficult to miss the look shared between the eight of them. There was a pause as they seemed to have a silent argument. 

'Sherlock you're the eldest here.' That wasn't true, according to the scans the DI was the eldest.

'I presume you're talking about the genetic anomaly that half our team share. Well that would be due to this.' He opened the palm of his hand to reveal a small flickering flame. The other three followed his example, producing tiny fires in the centre of their palms.   
'Now to answer your other question, it is only the four of use due to our being siblings.' That got a response from Natasha.

'A team that is fifty percent family, as well as couples within a team is highly dangerous.'

'That's rich coming from you, when you're clearly in a relationship with short, blond and angry over there.' Sherlock pointed towards Clint as the two glared at him. 

'Ok Sherlock, that's enough. Apologise to the two of them.' John touched his hand. He stared sheepishly into the room, then mumbled a sorry in the general direction of the couple.

'Now captain, there's something you must know about my team. We are spread across various agencies and will not hesitate to neutralise any threats.' Mily waited for a nod from the man.  
'Good that's settled that. As for the Hydra business.' She looked to the DI and he picked up on the debrief.

'Back in London, whilst we were tracking a Hydra subdivision, we discovered a plan for Hydra to capture a number of individuals that possess a form of magic.' 

'Well then surely that's why they captured Mily.' Bruce piped up.

'No, they couldn't have known about any of us, our brothers have destroyed every record of our family. Technically, none of us have ever existed.' Merlin almost looked insulted at the idea. The captain looked sceptical.

'Don't underestimate us.' Sherlock's voice was threatening as he glared towards the other occupants of the room.

The atmosphere of the room was tense until Tony and John defused it with a shared giggle. 

'God, are they always this serious?' 

'You think this is serious, you should've seen this one when Mily took his microscope.' He thrust his thumb in Sherlock's direction.

'Well she shouldn't touch my stuff.' He pouted.

'She was twelve and just wanted to be like you.' Kent was attempting to hide his smile behind Chandler's shoulder. Sherlock looked to John for help but only received a shrug and a smirk. He turned away and glared a hole into the wall just over Steve's shoulder. 

'Well, now that we're all acquainted let me show you to your rooms. Next meal is in two hours, the dining room is through the kitchen, to the left.' And with that Tony led the group out the room and into a spacious lift towards their bedrooms.


	7. The start of a plan

They convened in the room that Kent and Chandler had claimed, once Tony had returned to the rest of the Avengers, five storeys below. It was spacious, more like a small apartment in size, with a large sofa and TV against two of the walls and a sizeable double bed against another. The team all stood, waiting for Chandler to take lead. 

'Right. Ok. So we'll be needing a full debrief from Mily from her time in the Hydra base, as well as someone to make contact with the team downstairs.' He spoke in a code that the siblings had used throughout their childhood. 'John, Arthur, I hope that you can do that?' They nodded. 'Ok, let's go.' The room shifted as the two men stepped out of the door. 

'Mily, did you gain anything further from the past few months?' They all remained stood in a tight circle, taking comfort from the proximity, although Chandler stood a little further apart from the others, trying to avoid too much physical contact.

'Nothing particularly new, they don't have an exact trace to follow.'

'Except that's not true anymore is it?' Merlin piped up from Mily's left. 'They have our trace. They no doubt did a full body scan.'

'They have our very unique trace, which mean the others are in danger. We need to contact them.' Kent was about the pull out his phone when Sherlock held up his hand.

'I believe I have a plan, but first we need to go get permission to bring more people to the tower.' And with that he spun towards the door, his great coat billowing out behind him. He opened the door to be faced with John and Arthur, grabbed his and John's tea and continued to the lift. Merlin did the same for him and Arthur, while Chandler grabbed his green tea and Kent picked up his coffee. Mansell almost dropped his tea in his haste to keep up with Sherlock. Mily was last and carefully picked up a mug of cold milk and took the trays from the others' hands.

'Come on then, we're trying to get the band back together.' 

In the lift everyone was handed their respective drinks as they waited for the doors to slide open. No one was sat in the living room and the siblings sensed movement from the kitchen and dining room, four people to be precise. They glided in to find Bruce cooking something that smelled heavenly, with Tony sat beside him giggling. Steve stepped into the room to address the group. Sherlock stepped forward.

'We have a proposition for you...'


	8. Tea

The lift dinged as the door slid open to reveal Tony Stark sat alone on the living room, tapping away at the tablet on his lap. 

'Hey, um, excuse us, do you have any good tea making facilities?' John put on his friendliest smile for the man.

'Been sent to run errands have you?' Tony grinned at the two men.

'Well, you learn not to get in the way of that family if they've been separated.' 

'I take it that means they'll be going after Hydra then. And I suppose you want our help?' Tony stood and led the two of them through to the kitchen and started pulling down various boxes of tea bags and mugs. 

'To be honest, I don't know what they intend to do, they are quite proficient without outside help. Half the time I don't even think they require us as part of the team.' Arthur pointed between himself and John. 

'Now that's not true, they're all stupidly reckless, especially when one of them is or has been in danger. This is a revenge case now. I believe we're going to need to you stop my team from destroying themselves.' A brief look of desperation flickered across John's face to which Tony could only feel sympathetic. 

'I'll try my best.' He patted them both on the back and exited the room. 

They proceeded to move in tandem, making drinks for the rest of the team. John asked Tony if he and his friends wanted any, only to be with an entirely different voice.

'He'll take a black coffee and I'll have a tea, cream, no sugar, if you're offering.' Dr Banner lent against the doorframe. 'I can't say the others will want any.'

'Think we'll spike their drinks?' Bruce smirked.

'Something like that.'

'Then why do you trust us?' Arthur left John to finish attending the drinks to fully address the Doctor across the room.

'That girl, Mily. You all genuinely love her. I saw the way you protect her, despite her seemingly being more than capable of caring for herself. That is why I trust you, because you are only here for her safety, nothing else.' Bruce leant forwards and swiped his and Tony's mugs. 'I am, however, intrigued by the presence of DC Mansell, I am right in saying he's the only one not related to or in a relationship with anyone on the team?' 

'Well, you're half right. He's in a relationship with the other DC's twin sister, so he's practically part of the family.' Bruce nodded in acknowledgement.

'How many siblings are there?'

'I think we'll leave you to guess.' Bruce let out a burst of surprised laughter which caught the other two off guard as he left the room.

 

'Well that's some progress, I guess.' John nudged a tray of mugs towards Arthur and they made their way back to the lift.


	9. The Plan

Bruce turned down the hob, allowing the soup to simmer and replaced the lid, while Steve led the team into the dining room to talk. Once they were all situated around the table, Sherlock began to talk.

'Now, we have come up with a plan that should allow us to take out a sizeable chunk of the Hydra network, but in order for it to work, we need to call all of our family here.'

'What makes you think we going to let anymore of you...' Natasha started when Steve interrupted her.

'No, actually that makes sense.' He turned to look at his team of superheroes. 'They no doubt have the trace for this family's brand of magic and if we concentrate all of the siblings in one place it will bring them to us.'

'Wouldn't they see it as a threat? Go after individual traces with a different signature?'

'Our brother can hack their system, delete any of magical traces they have on record.' Merlin explained.

'And what's to say they continue with their plan after that?' The brothers all turned to Mily. She squared her shoulders and cleared her throat.

'From what I could gather, from the three months I was on that ship, they're running out of options. Without this magic, they will essentially become extinct, so they will come after me and my family. No matter what.' It wasn't quite what the Avengers were expecting to hear, the shock from the news of Hydra's imminent downfall stunning them for a moment. Tony recovered first, gently placing a hand on Steve's shoulder to bring him back to the present.

'How many?' He managed with a slightly strained voice.

'Seven of us. But they may want to bring others.' That brought Bruce back as his previous question had been answered.

'How can the eleven of you be siblings and yet, as you claim, have no record of ever having been in contact.'

'That's not what we said. We said that our family didn't exist but that doesn't mean we don't communicate. In fact, Sherlock and Mycroft are known for being brothers, as well as Kent and his twin, and two of our other siblings live together, here in America.'

'Bring them here.' At that, people started moving, Bruce returning to his cooking, and the siblings moving off to make the necessary phone calls. Clint, Natasha, Tony and Steve remained seated.

'So, what have you found?' Steve turned to Tony.

'There's literally nothing out of the ordinary. They all live in different cities, and I can't find any link to these others that they were talking about. I can't even find a trace of this Mycroft guy! And don't get me started on the rest of them. That doctor is a soldier and half his time in action just doesn't exist!! How can this be possible, no one is this thorough but me! And now there are more coming.' He slid his tablet away from him and rested his head on his hands. 'I give up.' He huffed out.

'What about the code?'

'Jarvis was running it but hasn't gotten very far. It's beyond complex.' Clint patted his arm and rose from the table.

'Can't win them all, keep me updated on any developments. I'm going to the gym.' Steve and Natasha followed him. As they moved through the kitchen Bruce placed the lid on the soup and walked to Tony to console him (clearly Clint had informed him of Tony's fruitless search). 

'Food's in two hours.' Was his parting words.


	10. The call of the team

Mily rang Stiles, stood on the balcony, overlooking the city. He picked up after the second ring, slightly out of breath. 

'Stiles Stilinski, how can I help you?' Mily had borrowed Arthur's phone as her own mobile had been smashed during her initial abduction.

'Stiles, come to the Avengers tower in New York.' There was a beat of silence from Stiles, allowing the sound of running feet and panting to come through the phone.

'Mily, why're you ringing me? We only ever talk by email or letter. What happened?' His voice was slowly getting quieter and quieter until it was hardly more than a whisper.

'You do realise that whispering won't stop your werewolves from hearing us, right?' The two of them chuckled quietly. 'But seriously, you need to come to New York. Stiles... We're all coming. This is important.' She held her breath.

'I'll be there by the morning, I've just gotta book a flight...'

'Wait, we'll get Chuck to pick you up.' There was muffled chatter from the other end as Stiles put his hand over the speaker. This continued for several minutes and Mily took the opportunity to watch the people in the streets below. It was something that interested her- people watching, just observing a person in their everyday life. Sherlock would be able to tell you everything about them- where they've come from, where're they're going, their family history, everything. Stiles' voice brought her back from watching a busker on the street.

'Derek and Lydia are quite insistent on joining.'

'That's fine, I have prewarned our hosts.' She switched to their code. 'How much do they know?'

'Nothing about the magic. Or my family. I've told them that you need help with something supernatural.' She huffed.

'Stiles you need to tell them eventually.'

'I know, I know.' They both sat in silence for a beat.

'I'll ring when Chuck is on his way.' And with that parting message, she hung up the phone. She walked back into the room, scanning for John. Upon finding the blond soldier in the corner on the phone, she made a direct beeline towards him. 

'John, is that Chuck?' He nodded and offered the phone, she shook her head, trusting John to pass the message on.

'Tell him to pick up Stiles and two of his friends from Beacon Hills on his way out. And to message Arthur when he leaves.' He nodded again and began to relay the message. As he continued talking, Mily wandered of towards the lift.

-

Much to his disdain, Sherlock was tasked with ringing Mycroft. He'd tried to argue that their dear brother, in his infinite nosiness, was most likely already on his way and devising his own plans of action. Unfortunately for him, his protests fell upon deaf ears. And so he found himself in a conversation he wished to end as soon as possible. 

'He...'

'Mycroft, your presence is required in New York. Merlin is filling Q in, bring him with you.' And with that Sherlock hung up the phone and went to find John, who had long since retreated upstairs. 

He found him in their shared room, sat on the bed. He jumped as Sherlock sank down next to him and spoke.

'How was the conversation with my dear brother Charles?' Sherlock slid his arm around John's shoulders and pulled him into his side.

'Weird. I never thought I'd speak to him after the last mission.' He seemed rather vacant. Sherlock squeezed him slightly, causing John to lean into him more.

'The way he said my name, it brought back memories of when I was shot. He tried to help me.'

'John, Chuck has never told me anything about that mission, but he has told me about your friendship. He's missed talking to you all these years but he felt you needed space. I could ask him he to give you space if that's what you want?' Sherlock seemed to be struggling to find the correct words and it made John smile.

'Thank you Sherlock but I should I need to face him eventually, he was my friend once upon a time. I have to face my past and I'd rather do it now and not risk everyone when the fight comes.' Sherlock had a deep admiration for John's bravery. They stayed sat together for an hour before John shifted and stood. He walked out the room, trusting that Sherlock would follow, after all, Sherlock would follow John anywhere. 

-

Emerson was charged with retrieving both Erica and Richard as they both were currently living in New York. With a little help from Jarvis, he was able to get the access code for the living areas so that he could come back. With a quick goodbye to Joe he was in the lift and out on the streets of New York.

He fired off two texts, one to each of his siblings to find out where they were at that exact moment in time. Richard replied that he was in his apartment, Erica was on her way to his for a meal. Emerson made off down the street, careful to not draw attention to himself. 

He managed three blocks before he felt a prickle on the back of his neck. He turned down a nearby empty alley, attempting to lose his tail, but it was in vain. So he shift his intentions and spun round on his would-be assailant, pinning him to the wall. That was when he saw his face- Finlay Mansell.

'What the hell do you think you are doing?' Kent spoke through gritted teeth, dropping Mansell back to the floor.

'Jesus! That hurt. I'm glad you held back when you punched me in the incident room.' He rubbed the back of his head, but Kent continued to glared at him, silently seething. 'Ok, ok. I want to come collect Erica. She is my girlfriend after all.'

'You could've just asked.' Emerson stalked off, back to the Main Street, Mansell hot on his heels. The rest of the walk was in silence.

Finally, Emerson stopped at an apartment complex and entered with the acceptance of the doorman. He stopped in front of Richard's door and knocked. 

The two were greeted by a joyous pair, each hold a mug of half finished coffee.

'Come on in Em, bring your friend.'

'Fin!' Erica pounced on Mansell, careful not to spill coffee all over him. Emerson skirted around them and continued into the apartment.

'Rick, we can't stay long we've got to get back to get the plan in motion.'

'Yeah, yeah I know. I've already packed and everything. Just let me and Erica finish our cups of coffee then we'll be on our way.' And so, forty minutes later, the four of them entered the Avengers tower.


	11. The gang's all here

During dinner, after Castle and Erica had been given a room each, there was a clear division between the two groups. While the Avengers were laughing and joking among themselves, the family were quiet, somewhat subdued since the plan has been set in motion. John was gently prompting Sherlock to continue eating the soup when Clint, still dressed in gym clothes, addressed them.

'Why all the glum faces? I would've thought that reuniting with your family would've made you happy.' It was Emerson that spoke up.

'We haven't all been in one place since our parents were killed- the day that Mily was born.' As he spoke he looked at the table, Chandler reached over and squeezed his clenched fist. 'This isn't going to end well for us.' That silenced Clint, his smirk sliding off his face.

Just then, Jarvis announced the arrival of two helicopters. Everyone cleared off the table to greet the remaining members of the family and their friends.

\- 

Stood in the middle of the sitting room were nine people, waiting for their hosts.

'Welcome, I'm Tony Stark, once you've introduced yourselves I'd like to show you to your rooms.' He stepped back into the throng of Avengers awaiting their introductions.

'Hi, I'm Stiles, this is Lydia and Derek.' They each nodded in turn. Chuck was the next to step forward.

'I'm Charles... Um Chuck. This is Sarah and Casey. Oh, and Ellie, she's my sister.' 

'Q.'

'Mycroft.' There was a beat of silence.

'Well now that that's sorted, follow me.' Tony strolled off, the group trailing off after him.

'I'm heading back to the gym.' Client hopped off the table and headed towards the stairs. Mily blocked the doorway.

'Mind if we join?' She stood with her arms crossed and feet shoulder width apart. Where on the average teenager it would look childish, on Mily it was almost intimidating. 

'Ten minutes, or we start without you.'

'Right, let me round up the troops.' She practically skipped off to talk to Sherlock.

-

 

'Right, we're going to stick to hand to hand combat, no weapons.' Steve stood in the centre of the room, the Avengers lining one wall and the siblings and their friends on the other. 'One v one. I expect everyone to take this as an opportunity to analyse one another's fight styles. Any questions?'

Erica raised her hand from where it had been fiddling with her ponytail. 'I'm just going to put it out there and say that it may work out better to have weapons against my family or just to have us fight one another and study that.' She shrugged at the shocked expressions across the room. 'Just an idea.'

Natasha cleared her throat to pull the attention back to the room. 'First up is Tony and DC Mansell. Clear off the floor!' Everyone shuffled to the benches to watch the fight.


	12. Round one

Their fight was short lived, Tony's boxing background out matching Mansell's police combat training. One well placed punch to the jaw sent Mansell to the ground within two minutes.

'Next up, Sarah v Natasha.' 

'Are you sure this is randomly selected?'

'Yes now shut up and let them fight.' Mansell was lifted off to the side with Emerson and Erica crowding him with a water bottle. The two women began circling, ready to strike. Their fight was almost like a dance, blonde and red hair spinning as they kicked and punched with an accuracy and speed that made stunned the room. 

'Where did she train?' Steve watched as each of Natasha's attacks were expertly blocked. Casey and Chuck shared a look.

'CIA.' They spoke in unison. That shut the room up. All eyes were fixed on the fight that was slowly devolving into a dirty street fight. Ten minutes later Steve stood to break up the fight.

'Right! That's enough. I think we've all had time to study your fight patterns.' He released their arms and gently pushed them towards the bench as they smiled at one another.

'Good fight.' Sarah held out her hand.

'You too.' They shook and walked off.

'Ok then. Sherlock, John get up here!' The two looked at one another, a small smile spread across their faces. 

'Don't expect me to go easy on you John.'

'Nor I you Sherly.' John rolled his shoulders, his loose t-shirt only just covering his scar. They stood in the centre of the mat facing each other.

'Is this place fire proof?' A brief nod from Tony started the fight. Sherlock was the first to strike- a punch that looked to be aimed at the air in front of John's head. What really made the Avengers suck in a breath was the flames that burst out of Sherlock's fist. John simply dodged his head to the side and knocked Sherlock's arm away from him, rounding off his attack with a roundhouse to Sherlock's ribs causing him to stumble. John prepared for another attack when Sherlock waved his hand as he clutched his ribs, sending a gust of wind across the room.

'Wait, I thought you all controlled fire!'

'Shhh.'

The two in the centre of the room weren't fazed by the comment, slowly circling, matching smirks painted across their faces. 

'Oh great, please tell me they're not going to fuck in the middle of a fight.' Merlin mumbled, causing the room to grimace as one. Sherlock barked out a laugh as he drew back into stance to attack. John used his bent knee as leverage and spring boarded behind Sherlock, holding Sherlock in a choke hold. There was a moment of blind flailing as Sherlock tried to loosen the hold on his neck. 

Suddenly he grasped at John's left shoulder and pushed down hard, burning through the shirt as his control slipped. John threw himself backwards with a cry of pain. Sherlock collapsed in a fit of coughs.

'Fucking hell Sherlock!' He growled through gritted teeth, lowering his centre of gravity to prepare to pounce.

'Well y...' Sherlock's retort was cut off as John threw him to the ground and pinned him there with his legs. Sherlock squirmed to escape before tapping the mat in surrender. John released him, before smiling and giving Sherlock a quick peck to the forehead and an arm to help him up. It took a moment for the two to notice the stares from the Avengers.

'What?' Sherlock looked at each of them in indignation.

'That scar.' Natasha murmured. 

'Yeah, old battle wound.' John half-shrugged, still holding his left arm to his side. The sleeve of his shirt had been burned away to reveal the massive scar caused by a sniper that marked his left pectoral and spread around his shoulder. Natasha looks worried before carefully replacing her mask of indifference.

'Any who, next up is Chuck and DI Chandler.' Steve piped up from the end of the bench, attempting and failing to regaining the attention of the room.


	13. Round two

It took Sherlock giving John his t-shirt to wear and donning his hoodie to change the focus of the room. 

'Why didn't you just give him your hoodie?' Merlin inquired.

'John hates too long sleeves.' He shrugged in indifference and settled down next to John in the bench. They nudged shoulders and smiled, causing the tension in the air to dissipate. 

Chuck and Chandler stood and walked to the mat. They shook hands and stepped apart, falling into defensive stances. Chandler drew back his fist, aiming for a hit to the face when Chuck's eyes started to flicker. He smirked and blocked Chandler's attack with a quick hit to the wrist. He then spun to his knee and thrust his palm into Chandler's stomach, sending him backwards with a forceful burst of air.

Chandler quickly recovered, running behind Chuck to land a well aimed punch to the kidney, causing him to arch back, followed by one to his stomach and swiftly finished with a knee to Chuck's chest. He doubled over, quickly lashing out with small whips of air to keep the blond back while he recovered. 

When it became apparent that this couldn't go on forever Chuck switched tactics, shifting his feet and facing Chandler head on. He pulled his hand above his head, causing Chandler to stop, grasping at his throat. 

Suddenly Chuck's arm was thrown to to side, lead by his wrist. Chandler fell to the ground coughing, and Emerson came storming over. 

'What the FUCK was that?! You could've killed him!' Chuck attempted to reach out but his arm was stuck to his side.

'No I wouldn't. I know what I'm doing. Now let me go Emerson!' Kent turned to Chandler, unclenching his fist. Immediately Chuck relaxed, walking off to the Sarah while Kent helped Chandler to the bench.

'Chuck, why did you do that? You could've killed him.' Chuck looked at Sarah. 

'You know I wouldn't kill someone. I was told to give everything I could so they could see the full extent of our power.' Sarah could see the logic but still frowned.

'Chuck you need to be careful. This is what got John in trouble last time. If you can't control this, you should tell them.' She gave him a meaningful look. Chuck ducked his head and nodded in acknowledgment. He stood and approached the couple slowly.

'Joe, I apologise. I thought it was the best course of action but I was wrong and I'm sorry.'

'That's ok.' Chandler replied hoarsely. The two nodded to one another then returned to their seats. Bruce rushed over to check him over before he was mercilessly shoved to the side by Mily.

'Carry on with the fights. We're fine over here.' Mily called over to Steve. 

'Ok it's me versus Derek.' He look Derek up and down and, despite his muscled figured, showed obvious concern. 'Are you sure? I don't want I to hurt you.' Derek shrugged.

'Me neither.' And with that Derek sprouted claws and pounced at Steve.

'What the hell?!' Steve shouted as he ducked as Derek went sailing over him. 'Do you guys have anymore secret powers?' 

'Well Lydia's a banshee but other than that, no.' 

'A WHAT?!' That had all the Avengers staring at Stiles who was leant back against the wall calmly. He shrugged as Derek collided with Steve, sending them both crashing to the floor. Derek rolled off and skidded to a halt. 

'You should probably focus on your fight.' Steve rose his fists to shield his chin and moved in to attack. He ducked both of Derek's swipes, grabbing Derek's right arm and twisting until it popped. Steve followed with a swift kick to the back of the legs. He stepped back towards his bench, missing Derek realign his arm with a sickening pop as he straightened.

'We're not done.' He spat, eyes glowing an electric blue and fangs sprouting from his gums. Steve turned in confusion, too late to avoid the claw that gauged a chunk from his arm. 

'Derek stop!' Stiles ran forward as Derek lowered his hand. 'Fight's over, Cap, go get your arm fixed.' Steve walked over to Bruce who was ready with a first aid kit. 'We need to reset your arm properly. Go see Mily.' 

'Erica, Lydia. Go.' The two of them stepped up and bowed to one another. Erica thrust her fists upwards, causing a solid wall of concrete to erupt from the floor that Lydia narrowly avoided punching. Erica proceeded to punch the wall, a block flying towards the red head which she again avoided. Lydia grabbed Erica's outstretched hand and yanked her into the wall. In a blind panic, Erica sent another block towards Lydia, catching her arm but not loosening her grip, she then kicked the entire wall to the other side of the room. 

The red head side stepped the barrier and kicked Erica in the side, she gasped in pain, unprepared for the onslaught of punches and kicks that followed.

'Ok, ok I yield.' The two parted and move off to the side. Stiles briefly looked over Lydia's arm, while Emerson looked over Erica as bruises started to form on both of their bodies.

'Bruce go check them ov...'

'No, it's fine we can wait until the end of the tournament. Then Mily can look us over and fix us up. I'm sure she can help you too.' Erica called across the room, cradling her arm to the chest. 

'If you're sure? Then it's Casey against Thor.'


	14. Round three

The two men stood on the mat were built like brick walls, squaring up to one another, their fists held up to protect their faces. Thor was the first to attempt a punch, hitting Casey in the shoulder. He grunted in response and grabbed Thor's arm, twisting it behind his back.

'You are a worthy adversary. I shall enjoy this fight.' Thor grinned before he pulled his arm free with a twist of his upper body. John stumbled backwards to avoid the kick Thor sent in his direction.

'Remember you love me Casey!' Chuck shouted from the sidelines. 'What? It makes him angry.' Chuck justified as if it made perfect sense.

Casey growled and went on the offensive, punching and feigning in a blitz that Thor struggled to keep up with. Thor attempted a sneak right hook, only for Casey to head butt it before it connected with his cheekbone. Everyone watched as the two separated, Panting heavily. They grinned at each other. 

'You're good. I'm actually enjoying this.' Casey bowed his head slightly as he spoke to show respect. Thor reciprocated, then jabbed his fist into Casey's stomach, before bringing his knee up to connect with his nose, there was a crunch and blood began to spew out of John's face. Casey kicked the inside of Thor's knee, causing it to buckle with a horrid snapping sound. The two went crashing to the floor as Thor's leg could no longer hold their weight. 

'And that's the end of the match.' They untangled themselves and shook hands.

'Good fight.' Thor nodded in agreement.

'Perhaps we shall have the chance to spar again.' They shook again and walked off to either side of the room. 

'Richard, Clint, you're up.'

'Just a forewarning, I'm not that good at fighting, I'm more the talk my way out of a situation kind of guy.' Clint smirked as Castle shifted uncomfortably in the middle of the floor. 

'This will be fun.' He thought as he glanced at the concerned expressions of many of Castle's brothers. His sisters were all looking on, waiting for the fight to start.

'Well there's no talking your way out of this one.' And with that the archer lunged, tackling the writer over his shoulder. He went crashing to the floor, all the air pushed from his lungs. Castle wheezed, threw his arms skyward and practically flew back to his feet. He went in for a strike.

The match was relatively short lived, with Clint flooring Richard for the third time before he tapped out. Clint wasn't impressed.

'From what I've seen from your siblings I would've thought you would put up more of a fight.' Castle shrugged, holding out his hand.

'I said I was more of a talker. Not all of us can be world class fighters.' Clint ignored his outstretched hand and walked off. Castle turned and took his seat.

'Q and Arthur.'

'Just a minute.' Q held up his hand as Arthur took to the floor.

'Now please.' Rogers responded with through gritted teeth. Q rolled his eyes and clicked on his phone, then secured a Bluetooth piece to his ear. He rose slowly, listening intensely to the person on the other end of the phone.

'No James, I told you, all gear in one piece.' He mirrored Arthur, but only kept half his attention on his impending fight.

'Or else? Well, let's just say that my original threat shouldn't go unheeded.' He easily blocked Arthur first strike, sending him backwards. Q created a step that tripped Arthur up, causing him to fall to the ground. He proceeded to trap Arthur's arms and feet in cases of concrete.

'Am I done here?' He looked around the room. With a nod from the Captain, he walked away, waving his hand at Arthur to release him. He sat and flicked back over to his phone.

'So help me James, I can make your life an absolute living hell. Bare that in mind next time you call.' 

'Riiiiight. Ellie, Emerson, up you come.'


	15. Round four

Ellie battered Kent's concrete wall with hurricane force winds. It was slowly being chipped away, exposing Kent to her relentless attacks. Kent sank to the floor and thrust his fist into the ground, causing the floor to move in large waves, which the American had to leap over to avoid, causing a brief respite that allowed Kent to strike. He kicked out the bottom of the wall, lifted it above his head and sent it upwards towards Ellie, accompanied by three rocks. Ellie forced her foot through the wall, which dissolved into rubble, then caught the first two rocks, throwing them up to the ceiling. 

The third knocked her shoulder, distracting her and causing her to crash to the ground. Kent slowly approached her. She was led on the ground, surrounded by rocks. Her dark hair, which had previously been tied back in a tight ponytail, was loose and covered her face. That is why he never noticed her piercing blue eyes watching him come closer. That is, until she swung her legs round, sending a gust of air that sent Kent straight into the opposite wall. The two of them promptly passed out and had to be dragged off by Chuck and Chandler.

'Before we can start the next fight, can someone please clear this up?' Tony stood. 'I don't appreciate people trashing my gym, no matter how cool they look doing it.' 

Q swept his hand across the room, causing the stone to fall back into place, reassembling the floor. He let his hand fall back to rest on his stomach with a relatively bored expression on his face. 

'Why thank you. Next up is Stiles and Merlin.' Tony sank back into his place in the bench. The two stood, but Derek stopped Stiles with a hand to his arm. 

'Stiles, are you ok with this? I mean we've only taught you basic self-defence and these guys can fucking control the elements.' Stiles placed his hand over Derek's.

'I'll be fine. Trust me. And, please don't hate me.' He squeezed Derek's hand and patted Lydia's shoulder before joining Merlin on the floor.

'You ready?' Stiles nodded.

'As I'll ever be, Emerys.' Merlin thrust his hands forward, sending a jet of flames directly towards Stiles, only for it to be blocked by a sizeable chunk of stone that was suspended between the two of them.

Off to his right stiles heard the sounds of shock from his friends. He tried his hardest to maintain his focus and pushed the rock towards Merlin. It got to his hands before he stopped, grabbed it from in front of him and threw it across the room back towards Stiles, who caught it a metre before it hit him. He threw it back with a chuckle.

'Hey look, someone get in the middle, we can play piggy in the middle.' Merlin smiled and retaliated by creating a a wall of flame to block the rock. He pushed it towards Stiles, who created a a shelter for him to hide it from the impending heat. He removed his shoes one handed, keeping his other hand up in order to maintain his structure. He sensed where Merlin was through his feet and, in his childishness, used his other hand to flick tiny pebbles into his head, over and over again. He knew it would eventually make him angry and he was right.

'Stop that. Stiles please. STOP IT!' He paused his assault on Stiles, giving him enough time to lower his walls and erect walls between the two of them and their spectators before Merlin simply threw an endless ring of fire around him. Stiles rebuilt his shelter and moved to capture Merlins hands, but with every attempt, Merlin countered with his own pieces of concrete. Without physically seeing his opponent, Stiles was finding it increasingly difficult to stop Merlin's fire attacks.

That is until he remembered a technique Chuck taught his. He raised a new wall between them, lowered his own and set off at a pace towards the wall. He didn't stop as he reached it, instead, he used air to lift himself horizontally. Once high enough, he lowered the wall and created a continual tornado of air towards Merlin, who stood in the centre of the room, still seething with anger.

'I think it's time you calmed down.' The force of the air caused Merlin to fall to the ground, finally allowing Stiles to entomb his arms and legs on concrete. He lowered the walls and slowly had his way back down to the floor. He swayed slightly as Derek raced towards him.

'You calm yet buddy?' Merlin nodded and Stiles released him before being led off by Derek.

'Stiles, are you ok?' Derek knelt in front of Stiles, looking worriedly into his face for signs of anything wrong.

'Yeah sourwolf, I'm fine. But you should be mad, why aren't you mad?' 

'Because that was kind of badass just then, how could I be mad about that?' He sat down on Stiles right and pulled him into a sideways hug, whilst Lydia sat to his left, waiting for her chance to hug him.

'Thank you.' He whispered.

'Mily and... Bruce, your turn.'

'Tony, are you sure? Shouldn't Mycroft have a chance to fight?' Queried Bruce nervously.

'I'm sorry but there's no saving you here Dr Banner.' Mycroft pipe up from the other side.

'That's not what I...'

'Relax Brucie, I have my portable Veronica ready. Besides I've been assured that Mily can take it.' And with that Bruce was pushed into the centre of the room, opposite the short, underweight teen. Her hair was pulled back in a loose plait, her glasses balanced on the end of her nose and, oddly, her feet were bare. He remained rooted to the spot as the girl fell into a relatively relaxed fighting stance. 

'Come on, trust me, I can handle this.' She gently urged Bruce to allow the Hulk to fight. He was apprehensive until he saw the resolve in her eyes. He let himself go, his mind falling into the abyss that came with the Hulk's control. The Hulk roared at the tiny teenager as she waved her arms, producing a stream of water from the air that spin round her like a barrier. The Hulk threw his fist in the air to beat Mily when the water wrapped around his arm and froze him in place. She used it like a rope, pushing herself upwards with a lift of concrete and seemingly floating around until she landed on the Hulk's neck. 

He smashed his arm free of the ice, and attempted to grab her from his back, madly swooping his arms around in the air. She produced two new jet of water from the air that forced his arms to the ground and then bound them with reinforced concrete. 

With him now occupied on freeing himself, Mily set about with her original task, her hand hovering inches from either side of his head. She shut her eyes in concentration and occasionally twitched her fingers, like following a thread to the source. Suddenly her eyes pinged open and she somersaulted several feet into the air and clear of the Hulk's arm span. She freed his arms of the concrete, but he didn't move. Everyone could see his muscles straining, but nothing was happening. He roared, spittle spraying towards Mily but the intense look of concentration on her face didn't falter. Her stance shifted, she brought her arms to her head, the Hulk mirroring her perfectly. She then proceeded to pinch the air and pull. It took several minutes and Mily to outstretched her second hand to keep the Hulk under control before they saw it. Bruce was coming back, the Hulk was slowly becoming less green and huge and more pinkish and human in size. 

The room was silent as she released the man in front of her, now back to Bruce, who was stood with an equal look of awe and shock as everyone else. 

'Well, I for one want to know what the fuck I just witnessed!?' Tony had already pulled out a tablet with the security footage and various body scans to study. Even Mycroft looked lost for words. She shook hands with Bruce before he went off to join Tony in his search for answers.

'I can control people's bodies because I can control water. Technically you have two bodies at any one time Dr Banner and by locating the doctor half of you I could draw it out, hence making you human again without the Hulk's consent.' She looked a bit sheepish in the middle of the room, lost due even her family being in shock of what she just did. 'Anyway, who wants a healing session?' Many from her side of the room raised their hands, whilst the other just looked on confused. 'Come here, I'll show you what I can do.' 

She pulled Erica towards her and began studying her injuries. Her hands hovered over each injury, much like before and slowly, they each saw the bruises fade and the arm reset itself. The Avengers were in shock.

'ME NEXT!' Tony barged next to Mily and sat obediently in front of her like Erica had. She carried out the same process, healing each of his bruises. She did the same for everyone else too. 

'How's it work?' Tony sat with the tablet on his knee, next to Mily so that he could watch.

'I manipulate the water in a person's body in order for it to heal itself quicker.' She shrugged as she finished up with Casey's nose. Tony noted what she said down on a page filled with other things she'd said throughout their time together. 'Right, that was the last one, I think I ought to shower and head to bed.' It was 10pm, the fights had lasted for two hours in total and everyone was exhausted. She rose from her seated position on the floor and stretched out her joints.

'Goodnight Mily.'

'Night Tony.' She headed off towards her room, while Tony sauntered off towards his lab.


	16. Getting to know you

It was one in the morning when Mily wandered up to the door to Tony's workshop. 

'Sir, Miss Mily is outside.' Tony pulled back from the boot to his new suit and rubbed his face in exhaustion.

'Might as well let her in, I'm getting nowhere on this thing.' He waved haphazardly at the various holograms and pieces of metal in front of him. The door clicked as the teenager slipped into the room almost silently. She hovered by the doorway, showing a timidness that Tony hadn't previously seen. 

'Can't sleep?' He queried.

'No.' He looked at her properly, trying to discern the tone of her response. She was wearing a baggy hog warts jumper with tartan trousers. Her hair bore the signs of a restless sleep. 

'Nightmares?' He hazarded a guess. She hummed in agreement. 'Why not wake up one of your many siblings?' He was genuinely curious.

'They all have their own shit to deal with, quite a few of my, I don't know, group? If that's the right word. They suffer from nightmares, they don't want to have to deal with mine as well.' She stood awkwardly by the door, looking expectantly towards Tony. 

He gestured to the stool opposite. The two sat in silence as Tony rested his head in his arms and Mily inspected the holograms.

'What are these?' 

'Schematics for a new suit.' Tony's voice was muffled by his arms.

'And I'm guessing you're not having a lot of luck.'

'And what gave you that idea?'

Opting to ignore his sarcasm, she responded. 'My brothers might be able to help there. They're really good with technology.' 

'And which of your oh so friendly brothers would that be?' Tony rose his head, slowly getting angry at how little he knew of the people staying under his roof. 

'Ok, I can see how not knowing us can be frustrating. But all you have to do is ask, not go sneaking about. Besides, I was talking about Q and Chuck. They could definitely rival you with tech know-how. ' She shifted so that she was mirroring Tony. He looked thoughtfully at her.

'So you're telling me that if I ask you any question about your family then you'll answer truthfully?' He looked slightly sceptical.

'Yes, and our friends. I promise. Although I request that all video evidence is erased.' The serious look on her face wiped the scepticism from him straight away. 

'Done. Ok, I'll start small. How old is everyone in your group?'

'Out of my siblings, Mycroft is the eldest and he's 37, Richard is 35, Sherlock is 32, Chuck and Ellie are 29, Merlin is 28, Emerson and Erica are 25, Q is 23 and Stiles is 21.' 

'They have some odd names, I mean Q? What sort of name is that?' 

'It's a code name.'

'A code name for what?!' Tony rose his eyebrows.

'That's top secret.' She paused for a beat. 'But I'll tell you about that later.' His eyebrows scaled further up his forehead. 'What? You get higher than top level clearance when you're associated with this family.' She shrugged as if it were nothing to be offering up secrets that no one should have access to. 'Anyway, there's still 8 in my party that I haven't aged yet.' 

'Carry on then.'

'Casey is 36, Chandler is 35, John is 34, Arthur and Mansell are both 28. Umm... Sarah is 26, Derek is 25, and Lydia is 20.'

'And what about you?' She seemed a little shocked. 'You said you'd tell me the age of everyone in your group as you call it. What's your age?'

'I'm 18.' Tony just stared at her for a moment. 'Ok, next question.' She said hurriedly.

'What's your surname?'

'I can't tell you..'

'But...'

'Because I don't know.' 

'You don't know you're surname? They never told you?'

'No, Mycroft was worried that I'd try to find out their history. They were killed the day I was born. Mycroft won't tell me who or why, but I can tell it was because of me.' Her eyes fell to the table. 'No one ever talks about them. I'd just like to know about the people that influenced my family's life.'

It suddenly dawned on Tony just how difficult it must be to have siblings that were raised by parents that you'd never know. At least he had the chance to be raised by his parents, because no matter how much he resented his father, he understood why he was the way he was. From the looks of Mily, her lack of actual parents was causing some issues.

'So you were raised by?'

'I was brought up with Mycroft and Sherlock by my maternal grandparents. That is until they kicked both of them out for something Sherlock did, I don't really remember what. I was 6 and have been raised by Mycroft and Sherlock, and later John with the occasional help from the others ever since.' It explained why everyone was so protective of her, they had literally raised her from infancy. 

'How did you all end up living so far apart?' The American and British accents that divided the group in two puzzled him.

'That was Mycroft's decision, he thought it would be better to essentially place each of us in witness protection, he handed each of my older siblings off to various family friends and distant relatives. He then dispersed the families better the U.S. and Britain. Split us up so they won't be able to take us all at once, give the others a fighting chance.' 

'And the records of guardianship?'

'Mycroft's buried us until Chuck was tech savvy enough to permanently erase any record of our family exiting together. Now Q is in charge of keeping it that way.' She said it casually, as if having your entire family history hidden and deleted was the most normal thing. Tony huffed a laugh.

'What?'

'I'm just imagining your pompous older brother as a teenager changing your diaper.' She grinned at the answer. They stayed in companionable silence for a few minutes as the image truly sunk in. It allowed Tony a moment to think, when his next question struck him.

'When you first showed us your powers, you said that you and your siblings spread across many different agencies. Now I know that Sarah is CIA and that Mycroft is some kind of British government official, but everyone else? Are you allowed to tell me?' 

'Sure, as long as you promise all record of this is deleted.' He nodded.

'Ok so, Mycroft. Well Sherlock always like to joke that Mycroft is the British government and, honestly, I've found nothing to prove otherwise. Sarah is CIA, so is Chuck. Casey is NSA, they work together as a joined NSA-CIA black ops team. Ellie is a doctor.' Tony nodded in understanding. 'John is or I guess, was a Shield agent, as were Arthur and Merlin, however he I s still a former Captain of the RAMC, and worked for MI6 as part of a black ops team that used to work in tandem with Operation Bartowski.' 

'What's that?'

'The name for my brother's team. His legal surname is Bartowski.'

'Why is it an operation?' 

'Chuck has a super computer filled with the U.S. government's secrets locked away in his head. And no, you can't use his brain for that reason.' She held her hand up. Tony had been shifting forward thoughtfully since the start of Mily's monologue. He crossed his arms across his chest, falling back in his chair, very much looking like a sulking child.

'Ok, but just know we could've had so much fun.'

'Trust me, you'll have plenty of fun with him based off of technology and his shining personality alone. Hmmmm lets see, Sherlock was a Shield agent and likes to call himself a Consulting Detective when he works with New Scotland Yard. Merlin, Arthur, Chandler, Emerson and Mansell also worked as Shield agents, although Chandler, Emerson and Mansell work as detectives with the Whitechapel police department. DI Chandler is their boss.' 

'Stiles and Lydia are members of Derek's werewolf pack. Castle is a world famous writer and Erica is an artist. And I believe that's everyone... Wait, I'm formerly a Shield agent and currently unemployed.' She nodded and grinned, proud of herself. 

'Cool, I think you could all come in useful.' She yawned behind her hand.

'Hhhow so?' 

'Well, I figure you all know some of Shield's dirty little secrets and by extension, Hydra's. We can use that.' She nodded her understanding.


	17. The New Plan

The digital clock on the wall showed that it was half past two. They had been talking for an hour an a half and it didn't look like they would be stopping anytime soon. 

'So you all share the same power.'

'Kind of, some of us are better at certain elements than others. We have what is called a primary element and a secondary element. Some of us also have a tertiary element and I have a quaternary element. I'm the only one who can control water and that is my primary element.' Tony nodded in understanding. 

'So you can control people with water. What other cool things can you all do with the elements?' Tony leant forward just as Mily leant back and yawned into the back of her hand.

'Well, you saw what Stiles can do, he senses people through vibrations in the ground. We all can to some degree but Stiles is the best at it, apparently it helps him run with wolves so he's got more practise. Emerson and Erica can control metal as an extension of controlling earth. Sherlock's primary is fire but he can also manipulate lightning and electricity. I'm pretty sure he's working on interpreting the electrical impulses in people's mind.'

'So he's trying to read minds.'

'Yeah, he's not too far off. Theoretically he could manipulate those electrical signals and control people, but he hasn't got that far yet. Everyone's whose primary is air have exceptional hearing through sensitivity to the vibrations of air particles. And I think that's all for our extended powers.' Tony looked off past Mily's shoulder, deep in thought. It was several minutes before the genius spoke again.

'I've heard whispers of a school for the gifted which houses mutant children. Did any of you study there?' She shook her head.  
'Have you ever had any contact with Professor X? Does he know you exist?'

'No and as far as I'm aware no. Why?' Mily scrunched her face up in confusion.

'His school might be in danger and I was hoping you would know how to contact him.' 

'Sorry. But maybe, if we act fast, we can keep them from becoming targets.' 

'You want your family to be used as bait.' Tony replied bluntly, suddenly seeing what made them a team of spies as well as siblings.

'Yes. The media know that the Avengers are back at the tower, that a mysterious girl was saved and brought back, and that three separate helicopters have landed on the roof. We need to give them an explanation and draw out Hydra. Sorted.' Tony's face split into a grin as he started to formulate a plan.

'A fundraiser. To celebrate the saving of the young, brave girl who was saved two days ago as well as raise money for her rehabilitation. Obviously we'll invite the press which ought to get the word out pretty quick.'

'I'm sure Sherlock can put a few well placed whispers out into the city. He's built up a pretty sizeable network over here over the years.' Milt quickly added.

'Sorted. I say Friday. Although, what excuse should we use for your siblings being here?'

'It's a fundraiser. They're here to help raise funds. Richard is a famous author and Erica is a famous artist. We can create a cover for Chuck and Merlin. No one has to know about Mycroft and Q are here.'

'And what about Sherlock and co.'

'They were the team that worked on my kidnapping in the UK so you invited them to say thanks for the Intel.' 

'And Stiles?' She paused, deep in thought.

'Lydia's family is rich. We could say that she's the one invited with Derek as a bodyguard and Stiles as her plus one.' The inventor stopped, considering the plan that had been set out. Milky watched him through slightly glazed eyes, unable to focus on anything because she was so tired. 

'It could work. We should definitely check with your siblings.' She began to rise from her seat and Tony stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. 'But not until the morning, you need some sleep.' 

'You need sleep as well. You're body is practically screaming for at least eleven hours of sleep, it's been quite distracting since I met you.' She yawned and slowly made her way out of the door. Tony remained rooted to his seat, momentarily thrown by how casually Mily had shown concern for his health. 

He shook his head, not sure he'd ever get his head around these people's ability to sense the world around them. With a final sigh he too rose and left the room, causing the lights to flicker off in his workshop and his abandoned holograms to slowly shutdown.


	18. A little bit of bonding

It was just gone seven the following morning when someone joined Steve in the kitchen. He wasn't used to sharing the space so early, many of the other team members being either asleep (more like pretending to) or training. So as the door opened, he was surprised to see the short doctor appear, fully dressed but still quite bleary-eyed.

The two nodded at each other in greeting, not bothering with pleasantries, the difficulties of the previous night etched clearly on both of their faces. Steve simply watched as John set about making tea for himself, fiddling with the handle of his own mug.

'Is your boyfriend still asleep?' Steve attempted to ease the tension that was building in the air as the doctor sat across from him.

'Yeah, Sherlock hasn't really been sleeping since Mily went missing. Now that we've got her I guess he decided that it was time for a well earned crash. He should be out for most of the day.' John's eyes glanced at the ceiling, a soft smile gracing his face. 

'What do you mean?'

'Well, he kinda has a habit of refusing to sleep when he's on a 'case'.' He threw in some air quotes. Steve nodded in understanding. The room fell into silence again, the two soldiers sipping from their cups. 'So what's it like?'

'What?' Steven eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'Be the super soldier? I served with some Americans and they told me about how their army still use you to motivate their recruits.' 

'Oh. Well. It's nothing special.' John rose an eyebrow, looking unconvinced. 'Ok it's pretty cool to be able to jump off buildings without be hurt, but it also kind of sucks. I can't get drunk.' John didn't look too upset with this news, which surprised the Captain- most other people he's spoken to about it were horrified. He decided to leave it, rising from his chair to make some food.

'Want some toast? Bruce usually makes a fry-up around nine if you'd rather that.' Steve shuffled around to retrieve the bread from the bread bin and slot it into the toaster. 

'Some toast would be great, thank you.' He stood to make another drink for the two of them, depositing the steaming hot cup of coffee at Steve's elbow and retaking his seat at the kitchen island. 

'How did you get that?' Whilst Steve was making breakfast John had den subconsciously massaging his shoulder. He stopped as the Avenger pointed.

'It was an joint-op gone wrong- MI6, CIA, NSA. We went in to save a team, a SHIELD team. Got ambushed. I got shot whilst patching up one of my team mates.' John droned out the facts.

'May I ask about who was in your team?' The doctor tilted his head, deep in thought.

'I guess it could be an issue if I don't.' He sighed. 'Chuck, Sherlock's brother, and his two handlers- Sarah and Casey. We were coordinate through Q. I always found it funny that I knew Sherlock's family before I ever met him.' He looked to be deep in memory. 'I was fixing up Casey leg, it was only a graze but it needed to be treated. Chuck was in look out and a shot came from overhead, almost hit one of the SHIELD agents we'd saved. He deflected it.' He paused, taking a shaky breath. 'But he was distracted by Sarah, and it hit me instead of the wall. Hurt like a bitch.' He began to rub his shoulder again.

'Where was the mission?' The Captain felt a pang of misplaced guilt over SHIELD's involvement in his life changing injury.

'Budapest, five years ago.'


End file.
